Box Score Box Score (PDF/HTML)

RENO, Nev. – The UNO men's basketball team played an outstanding first half to hang with a streaking Nevada squad, but it was not enough to get past the Wolf Pack on Tuesday night in an 81-69 loss at Lawlor Events Center. With the defeat, the Mavericks are now 7-13 on the year, while UNR improves to 15-3 (4-0 WAC) and stretches its win streak to 12 games.

Freshman guard CJ Carter paced UNO with 18 points with a trio of 3-pointers. Junior forward Alex Welhouse finished with 13 points on three treys, in addition to a career-high-tying five assists and seven rebounds, and sophomore forward Matt Hagerbaumer pulled down seven boards of his own.

Senior guard Mitch Albers also had 13 points, marking his 30th straight game with double-figure scoring dating back to the 2010-11 season. Sophomore center John Karhoff rounded out the Mavs' double-figure scorers with 10 points for the night.

Nevada was topped by two players with double-double performances – Olek Czyz (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Dario Hunt (14 points, 11 rebounds). Malik Story led both teams with 20 points and finished 4-for-6 from behind the arc.

As a team, Nebraska Omaha shot 42.9 percent (27-of-63) from the field to Nevada's 47.6 percent (30-of-63).

The Mavericks played right with Nevada in the first half, outshooting the Wolf Pack 51.7 percent (15-for-29) to 46.9 percent (15-for-32).

Carter keyed the Mavs with a 3-pointer to open the game before Nevada took a 9-8 lead at the first media timeout. Five straight points from Jerry Evans Jr. gave the Wolf Pack a 14-8 advantage, but baskets by Welhouse and Karhoff made it 17-12. Sophomore guard Isiah Gandy then scored seven of the Mavs' next eight points, and junior guard Jacques Coleman and sophomore guard Caleb Steffensmeier chipped in shots to keep UNO within four at 28-24.

With just over four minutes to go, Welhouse drained a long 3-pointer, making it 30-27, and three consecutive shots from Albers brought it to 35-33. At 1:35, Carter knotted the score at 35-35 with a jumper, but Czyz dropped in a pair of free throws and a putback to give Nevada a 39-35 advantage at halftime.

The Mavericks looked poised to regain the lead early in the second half, coming with two points in the first six minutes. Burton opened the half with a quick jumper, but Carter came right back with a 3-pointer at 41-38. A Karhoff layup, coupled with a pair of Carter free throws, helped UNO stay within three, and the Mavericks cut it to 49-47 on a Carter three.

With the help of 10 points from Story in under three minutes, Nevada took the momentum with a 12-0 run to go up 61-47. Karhoff relieved UNO's scoring drought with a jump shot, but Story hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night to make it 64-49. Welhouse then drained a trey of his own, and two straight layups from Albers got it to 68-58. Czyz went up for a dunk, and Hunt hit two charity shots to push the score to 72-58 with just under five minutes to go.

UNO continued battling with consecutive 3-pointers by Albers and Welhouse to make it 76-67 at 2:24, but Nevada kept the Mavs at bay to take its 12th straight victory by a score of 81-69.

Nebraska Omaha returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 21, traveling to Washburn. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. in Topeka, Kan.